Specifications
Unboxing
Testing
Similar to the Cloud Revolver, the Cloud Revolver S has a lightweight construction and leather padded headband that is supposed to give extra comfort for long hours usage without applying too much pressure on the top of your head. The flexible suspended headband design will automatically fit onto your head without any prior manual adjustments is definitely an added point, but users with bigger skull might face comfort related issue as it seems to be applying a little more extra pressure on the top of your head if the headband is touching against the metal frame itself. The earcups is big and comfortable and the noise isolation does appears to be slightly better than the Cloud Revolver. Noise from your surround are still audible – not too distracting but noticeable, due to the metal frame if you decided to go with a lower volume.
We gave the USB soundcard a try on both PC and XBox One, the detection isn’t instant but it doesn’t takes up more than a minute before it’s usable. For our case, it does takes a little extra time if you plug it into a XBox One compared to a PC. Once it’s detection, the audio switching is done automatically so you even have to configure the soundcard as default device for the audio to work. Pushing down the Dolby surround button does gives you the audio enhancement that is quite similar to what DFX, SoundPimp and Breakaway offers.
As it comes with a plug N play USB soundcard, it’s fair enough for us to actually compare it to the Cloud II directly as both comes with a USB soundcard. While we still prefer the comfort and sound quality of the Cloud II, the USB soundcard of the Cloud Revolver S is actually better when it comes to the audio control design. Adjusting the volume of both stereo and mic are noticeably easier with the wheel design on the Cloud Revolver S compared to the dedicated buttons on the Cloud II.
For gaming test, Cloud Revolver S works the best with games such as FPS or 3rd Person Shooter. Sound elements such as direction of enemy’s footsteps, explosions and gunshots can be clearly throughout our gaming session with few of the selected titles such as Battlefield: Hardline, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive even without the need of the USB soundcard. Enabling the audio enhancement will greatly benefit shooting games like Battlefield, The Division, Overwatch.
If you’re more of a music and movies person, the Cloud Revolver S will still be capable enough to satisfy most your needs to a certain extent. The mids is just right,some of the less significant lows are actually noticeable, the instrumental representation sounded accurate and the vocals is clear enough for both movies and music.
Conclusion
The HyperX Cloud Revolver S alone, without the USB soundcard, is already a very decent sounding headphone compared to most gaming headphone you’ll find on the market. If we were to compare it side by side with the Cloud Revolver, the only noticeable difference is probably the slight improvement in terms of its design and sound quality.
We think is a fair comparison since both comes with a USB soundcard, the audio quality on the Cloud II is still slightly better but convenience wise, we’d say the Cloud Revolver S wheel volume control is more favorable than the dedicated buttons on the Cloud II.
Retailed at RM 699, we’d say that the Cloud Revolver S is rather expensive compared to the Cloud II which is priced at RM 499. While the price difference does seem pretty steep, the design and the convenience offered by the Cloud Revolver S is something that is worth not to overlook if the Cloud II design isn’t your thing. Besides, if we were to compare the Cloud Revolver S to gaming headsets from some of the renown brand that is priced around the RM 699 range, there isn’t many that can actually perform on par.
Pros
- Sturdy and good looking
- Decent sounding headphones
- Braided cables
- Audio splitter cable included
- Better noise isolation than the Cloud Revolver
- Better audio control design on the USB soundcard
- Fast detection of USB soundcard and no software required for the virtual 7.1 surround
- Detachable microphone
Cons
- More pressure on the head compared to the previous HyperX Cloud headsets
- Microphone still suffers from vocal plosives
- Noise isolation still not on par with the HyperX Cloud lineup
- Not suitable for those with bigger skull
- Rubber coating might not last long at places which is hot and humid throughout the year
- The headset could be better in terms of aesthetics if HyperX logo on the side of the earcups glows
- The metal frame is prone to pranks where friends can annoy you by knocking on the metal frame of the headset
